I'd like it to stop raining, please!

17th & 18th August

Just a quickie this time, as I'm getting quite tired and I want my shower before going back for the evening meal and the main health and safety talk.

The barbeque at Wolverhampton Boat Club was one of those good ideas that didn't quite work, mainly because it was a victim of its own success. In the event, 80 of us descended on the club, and not surprisingly, they really struggled to cope with the demand. The catering arrangements in particular meant queuing for a long time (around 45 minutes in some cases) though the bar managed rather better.

It did mean the all those involved with the early stages of setting up had a chance to socialise together, which was great, but it didn't do my prejudice against barbeques any good.

The weather has stopped cooperating altogether, with worrying amounts of rain leaving parts of the site very wet indeed.

I've carried on with yet more fencing jobs, such as putting crowd barrier around a section of roll out tracking that was both outside the main boundary fence, and sticking up at the edges in a hazardous way.

We put a temporary fence around the campsite manager's tents and trailers, though by this morning it looked like we would have to adjust the arrangements for that campsite, and so had to move a load of the fencing near him.

We've started using chippings laid over terram membrane in the worst patches of mud in the wrg compound, and I suspect we'll have to do a lot more of the same on the main site. Site 1 has also ordered a lot more roll out tracking, to help the traders get to their stands without breaking up the ground too much.

We are building on the horrendous experiences of St Ives last year to cope better with very similar conditions this time. We keep hoping that this amazingly wet summer will relent a bit in time to give us a chance of delivering a good show, but it is quite worrying.

Fortunately, we'd already planned to use car parking at the Dunstall Race Course and the Birmingham and Midshires HQ, with a park and ride facility to the show, so at least that bit will be less affected by the soggy conditions.

The wrg compound has pretty well taken shape now, so folks turning up for the main camp (which starts tonight) will find things ready for them. This afternoon has been very quiet, work wise, a sort of calm before the storm, I guess. I've been persuaded to be a team leader on the main camp for the first time, so will just have to hope that the power trip doesn't go to my head. (As will my team, I guess.)